Image capture devices (e.g., digital cameras) are commonly incorporated into a wide variety of devices. In this disclosure, an image capture device refers to any device that can capture one or more digital images, including devices that can capture still images and devices that can capture sequences of images to record video. By way of example, image capture devices may comprise stand-alone digital cameras or digital video camcorders, camera-equipped wireless communication device handsets such as mobile telephones, cellular or satellite radio telephones, camera-equipped personal digital assistants (PDAs), computer devices that include cameras such as so-called “web-cams,” or any devices with digital imaging or video capabilities.
Image capture devices may be capable of producing imagery under a variety of lighting conditions (e.g., illuminants). For example, image capture devices may operate in environments that include large amounts of reflected or saturated light, as well as in environments that include high levels of contrast. Some example image capture devices include an adjustment module for auto exposure control, auto white balance, and auto focus, in addition to other modules (e.g., a tint adjustment module), to adjust the processing performed by the imaging signal processor hardware.
In image capture devices, adjustment of the image signal processor (“ISP”) is often beneficial to achieve proper white balance. White balance (sometimes called color balance, gray balance or neutral balance) refers to the adjustment of relative amounts of primary colors (e.g., red, green and blue) in an image or display such that neutral colors are reproduced correctly. White balance may change the overall mixture of colors in an image. Without white balance, the display of captured images may contain undesirable tints.